06-26-2015, 01:50 PM
SNWMF had the best line-up of any festival this year in DM's humble opinion, but strangely, he didn't engage the music that much. SNWMF has become such a social gathering for DM, not only with his JAH Med accomplices but with so many friends in the reggae/music scene in general. And usually Dm scurries home to spend Father's Day with his dawta, but this year, she's in Oaxaca so no need for that. Dm could see the entire weekend through, from Thursday to Monday, a real treat. What's more, dm hitched a ride from one of his lead JNK conspirators, Sarah, who in the daytime is a stalwart activist for homelessness and prisoner reform in the Cruz, and at night is one of the top JNK operatives. She and her husband Edgar are good friends of DM, but Edgar had to work Friday and Monday so their mission was for Sarah to set up camp early and Edgar to come up later and leave early. What's more, they had a phat new ride, a posh Rav, so Dm was stylin'.
Dm had a major gear fail, his beloved burnoose cord gifted from Greg which has been part of his festival arsenal for years, vanished in the wash last week. It's clingy, so it's probably stuck to another piece of laundry, but Dm folded and stowed all of that and never found it. It's a crippling blow, but Dm has been considering changing up his festival gear, primarily because of sitonmyfacebook, where his photo archives reveal little variation in attire. Plus, dm was carded last April when buying some JD at CVS to honor the first year passing of his dad. Carded. 3 decades past turning 21. All dm can think was that it was because he was wearing a hat. So dm has been wearing a lot of hats lately. Also, despite packing for so many fests, he forgot his yoga mat and his tea. The tea was a stupid oversight because Dm has a lovely case of green, small packages perfect for fests, gifted to him by a grateful kung fu master. He also invested in a new collapsible cup, bought fresh from REI, and that baby rocks because it'll fit into his fanny pack and is great for water, tea, coffee or beer. Knowing the drunken mess last year was with the new addition of the Anderson brewer to the crew, he brought his homer simpson beer opener. Dm & Sarah were among the first to arrive and secured a hidden nook to camp, outside of Yaaard, as Yaaard was locked up (one of DM's tasks that day was to get that unlocked for the crew).
The Anderson brewer JNK member dropped off several cases of beer, including a fully stocked and iced cooler. It was a daunting pyramid of beer - great beer - and he was even apologetic that he couldn't secure a keg. The annual single malt tasting was won immediately by Doc Gregg, who opened with a 21 Glenlivet (that's like a $150+ bottle, right?). Doc Lee offered a 20 talisker (which is also like $200). Dm brought a 8 year old small batch bowmore (like a $40 bottle, as publishers don't make near the scratch that docs do). It was gratefully accepted and drunk although not with the fervor as the other two. Another JAH Medder brought his own home-distilled corn whisky, which was only a few days old. That was also enjoyed.
With the Dawta in Oaxaca, dm was perturbed to hit the wifi mess that any fest is with so many trying to log on to a limited bandwidth. What's more Dm's pom got a foxtail between his toes, so mrs. Dm had her hands full, and Dm was constantly trying to keep up with what was happening at home and Oaxaca. But even his phat new iPhone6 wasn't up to the task. Stupid festie wifi.
The JNK nooB was a savvy yoga hippie chick (dm's fav) and so DM, eager to rectify his embarrassing drunken default of the in-service last year, was most eager to redeem himself. So he used the nooB as an excuse to do an all-female in-service, quickly recruiting two of SNWMF's sauciest party gals, an emt and rn, to assist. They had no idea what they were doing even though they've sat through dm's in-service many times, but they had all had a great sense of humor about it and made provocative use of their scantily-clad summer attire. It certainly kept everyone's attention. Dm could have recited the national anthem instead of giving his usual schpeal and it's likely no one would have noticed. Even Dm's chauffeur, the ever-wise female JNK Sarah, said it went well.
The Anderson Brewery tour was delightful as always and is becoming a mainstay of SNWMF. This year, dm was very careful to pace himself. What's more, the JNK brewer, secured some of the precious Devil's Share, some residual whisky left from the Wild Turkey barrels that Anderson ages their finest stout in - it's a very rich, oakey whisky, very very nice.
JAH Med was 'swimming in condoms'. Yes that's an actual quote - dm thought it should be shared here.
The IPR load was never overwhelming and the JNK never had to do anything more than verbal restraint. But it was fairly constant, especially on Saturday night, costing Dm Jimmy Cliff's act, but that was alright as there are a few JNK that are really into Cliff, and DM has seen him a bazillion times, so Dm was happy to work so they could see him. About a 3rd were friends and acquaintances of the JNK. And a somewhat overlapping 3rd were staff (of course). The funniest one was labelled the 'toilet-plugging nuisance' - he allegedly gulped down half a vial and his friend claimed he were seasoned because he was Wavy Gravy's cousin or some crap, to which we replied 'if you're so seasoned, why are we dealing with your casualties?' The most annoying one came on Sunday morning, just as the last JNK team fell asleep. so dm had to wake a few, and the IPR had to be bumper-carred back to his tent, but by the time that happened, the sun rose. No sleep for Dm that saturday night. The messiest was monday morn with a drunk passed out in a ditch of poison oak. Got him back to the Dub Lounge where he promptly puked all over himself. Dm cleaned most of that up, as much as he could given it was like 3AM. But as DM wasn't driving, dm could afford to go the distance for the whole weekend, so it was cool.
One of the outstanding highlights was fresh abalone. One of our responders snuck off Friday morn to catch 3 abalones. Those were cleaned, tenderized, breaded and fried to perfection. Dm went back for 2nds, 3rds, and 4ths, easily eating more than $100 worth.
On Saturday for the solstice, the moon, jupiter and venus formed a triangle over the stage. On Sunday night, they were all in line with Leo jumping in between them.
Musically, DM didn't engage it too much even though he felt this festival had the best lineup of the year. He missed Stick Figure completely, which bummed him out because it's one of the Dawta's fav bands and dm aspired to catch a little for an instagram vid. Yellowman was good, still in top physical shape at 58, but his voice is shot. He introduced his dawta and they sang a duet 'Father's Love' which made dm get all misty. They showed up later in the Dancehall for a few more songs. Friday's Dancehall rocked - Mungo's Hi Fi with Solo Banton. That was top notch. Saturday brought some nice folk music to the small stage. Dm caught some of Third World, which was okay. That night, the Dancehall started strong, then faded, then got a little better at the end. The campground sound systems were shut down pretty early. As dm approached one, a stunning hippie chick ran up to him and begged him not to shut it down. Dm didn't realize that's what she wanted so he was very confused for a spell. Sunday was all about the finale act, Thievery Corporation. Dm caught almost the entire act and it was great. Luv them.
That's about it for this year, at least all that DM can discern from his notes and tattered memory. On to the Grateful Dead's Fare The Well shows....
Dm had a major gear fail, his beloved burnoose cord gifted from Greg which has been part of his festival arsenal for years, vanished in the wash last week. It's clingy, so it's probably stuck to another piece of laundry, but Dm folded and stowed all of that and never found it. It's a crippling blow, but Dm has been considering changing up his festival gear, primarily because of sitonmyfacebook, where his photo archives reveal little variation in attire. Plus, dm was carded last April when buying some JD at CVS to honor the first year passing of his dad. Carded. 3 decades past turning 21. All dm can think was that it was because he was wearing a hat. So dm has been wearing a lot of hats lately. Also, despite packing for so many fests, he forgot his yoga mat and his tea. The tea was a stupid oversight because Dm has a lovely case of green, small packages perfect for fests, gifted to him by a grateful kung fu master. He also invested in a new collapsible cup, bought fresh from REI, and that baby rocks because it'll fit into his fanny pack and is great for water, tea, coffee or beer. Knowing the drunken mess last year was with the new addition of the Anderson brewer to the crew, he brought his homer simpson beer opener. Dm & Sarah were among the first to arrive and secured a hidden nook to camp, outside of Yaaard, as Yaaard was locked up (one of DM's tasks that day was to get that unlocked for the crew).
The Anderson brewer JNK member dropped off several cases of beer, including a fully stocked and iced cooler. It was a daunting pyramid of beer - great beer - and he was even apologetic that he couldn't secure a keg. The annual single malt tasting was won immediately by Doc Gregg, who opened with a 21 Glenlivet (that's like a $150+ bottle, right?). Doc Lee offered a 20 talisker (which is also like $200). Dm brought a 8 year old small batch bowmore (like a $40 bottle, as publishers don't make near the scratch that docs do). It was gratefully accepted and drunk although not with the fervor as the other two. Another JAH Medder brought his own home-distilled corn whisky, which was only a few days old. That was also enjoyed.
With the Dawta in Oaxaca, dm was perturbed to hit the wifi mess that any fest is with so many trying to log on to a limited bandwidth. What's more Dm's pom got a foxtail between his toes, so mrs. Dm had her hands full, and Dm was constantly trying to keep up with what was happening at home and Oaxaca. But even his phat new iPhone6 wasn't up to the task. Stupid festie wifi.
The JNK nooB was a savvy yoga hippie chick (dm's fav) and so DM, eager to rectify his embarrassing drunken default of the in-service last year, was most eager to redeem himself. So he used the nooB as an excuse to do an all-female in-service, quickly recruiting two of SNWMF's sauciest party gals, an emt and rn, to assist. They had no idea what they were doing even though they've sat through dm's in-service many times, but they had all had a great sense of humor about it and made provocative use of their scantily-clad summer attire. It certainly kept everyone's attention. Dm could have recited the national anthem instead of giving his usual schpeal and it's likely no one would have noticed. Even Dm's chauffeur, the ever-wise female JNK Sarah, said it went well.
The Anderson Brewery tour was delightful as always and is becoming a mainstay of SNWMF. This year, dm was very careful to pace himself. What's more, the JNK brewer, secured some of the precious Devil's Share, some residual whisky left from the Wild Turkey barrels that Anderson ages their finest stout in - it's a very rich, oakey whisky, very very nice.
JAH Med was 'swimming in condoms'. Yes that's an actual quote - dm thought it should be shared here.
The IPR load was never overwhelming and the JNK never had to do anything more than verbal restraint. But it was fairly constant, especially on Saturday night, costing Dm Jimmy Cliff's act, but that was alright as there are a few JNK that are really into Cliff, and DM has seen him a bazillion times, so Dm was happy to work so they could see him. About a 3rd were friends and acquaintances of the JNK. And a somewhat overlapping 3rd were staff (of course). The funniest one was labelled the 'toilet-plugging nuisance' - he allegedly gulped down half a vial and his friend claimed he were seasoned because he was Wavy Gravy's cousin or some crap, to which we replied 'if you're so seasoned, why are we dealing with your casualties?' The most annoying one came on Sunday morning, just as the last JNK team fell asleep. so dm had to wake a few, and the IPR had to be bumper-carred back to his tent, but by the time that happened, the sun rose. No sleep for Dm that saturday night. The messiest was monday morn with a drunk passed out in a ditch of poison oak. Got him back to the Dub Lounge where he promptly puked all over himself. Dm cleaned most of that up, as much as he could given it was like 3AM. But as DM wasn't driving, dm could afford to go the distance for the whole weekend, so it was cool.
One of the outstanding highlights was fresh abalone. One of our responders snuck off Friday morn to catch 3 abalones. Those were cleaned, tenderized, breaded and fried to perfection. Dm went back for 2nds, 3rds, and 4ths, easily eating more than $100 worth.
On Saturday for the solstice, the moon, jupiter and venus formed a triangle over the stage. On Sunday night, they were all in line with Leo jumping in between them.
Musically, DM didn't engage it too much even though he felt this festival had the best lineup of the year. He missed Stick Figure completely, which bummed him out because it's one of the Dawta's fav bands and dm aspired to catch a little for an instagram vid. Yellowman was good, still in top physical shape at 58, but his voice is shot. He introduced his dawta and they sang a duet 'Father's Love' which made dm get all misty. They showed up later in the Dancehall for a few more songs. Friday's Dancehall rocked - Mungo's Hi Fi with Solo Banton. That was top notch. Saturday brought some nice folk music to the small stage. Dm caught some of Third World, which was okay. That night, the Dancehall started strong, then faded, then got a little better at the end. The campground sound systems were shut down pretty early. As dm approached one, a stunning hippie chick ran up to him and begged him not to shut it down. Dm didn't realize that's what she wanted so he was very confused for a spell. Sunday was all about the finale act, Thievery Corporation. Dm caught almost the entire act and it was great. Luv them.
That's about it for this year, at least all that DM can discern from his notes and tattered memory. On to the Grateful Dead's Fare The Well shows....
Shadow boxing the apocalypse